


The Problem with Double Dog Dares

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode: s06e09 Impact Winter, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-28
Updated: 2011-03-28
Packaged: 2019-05-30 10:25:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15094769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: This is kind of ridiculous actually, not that most of my fics aren't. It starts off when Josh and Donna see each other for the first time after she quits and quickly goes AU from there.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

The problem with a double dog dare is that it can’t be turned down. Well, it can be, but only if your life is in danger or you could be dragged off to jail. Otherwise, you’ve got to do a double dog dare. You have no choice. Now granted, many people leave the world of double dog dares when they reach puberty. But for those of us who are young at heart, a double dog dare is as serious at the age of forty-two as it was at the age of nine… 

********** 

“It’s not my fault!” I shriek as she glares at me.

“It’s not?” she asks doubtfully.

“No!”

“Then whose fault is it, Joshua?” 

“CJ’s?” I ask more than say.

“It’s CJ’s fault. The CJ Cregg who’s in a whole different state? Is that the CJ you’re talking about?” Great. Now she has her hand on her hip. That means I’m in big trouble.

“Yes, that’s the one,” I say, nodding. 

“And how was that,” she asks, tilting her head towards Will’s office, “her fault?”

“She dared me,” I say defensively.

“She dared you?” She doesn’t believe me! How can that be?

“Yes! She double dog dared me.” 

“You did that because of a dare?” she screams.

“Yes!” Her glare gets more intense. Oh shit. I’m in trouble. How the hell did I dig myself in deeper than I already was? It must be a gift I have because it certainly isn’t the first time this has happened. “Wait. No.”

“Well, which is it?” My eyes open wider and I just stare at her. “I’m waiting,” she says impatiently, now tapping her foot.

I’m going to kill CJ.

**********

It had been late. Actually, it had been early, about 1:15am. They came in while I was packing my desk with three four packs of Heineken and a bag of pretzels, and they plopped down in the chairs in my office. I looked at them for a minute, then pushed the box over, grabbed a beer and sat down, throwing my feet up on my desk. That would be the last time I’d do that there. At least the last time for a year. And probably the last time with them.

They had asked me about this long shot I was leaving them for, and I could tell that Toby didn’t think I had a shot in hell and that CJ was far too busy running the current government to care about the next one. But they had asked, and that made me feel better.

So we sat there for another few hours, just talking like we used to. It was nice. And several beers were gone before anyone brought up Donna. And by anyone, I mean CJ.

“How’d she take the news?”

“How’d who take what news?” I asked her, confused.

“Donna. How’d she take the news that you’re working for the enemy?”

“Umm…”

“You told her. Right?” I looked down at my desk. “Please say you told her.”

“He’s not ready to be a man yet,” Toby piped in.

I looked up at him. “You’re not very helpful.”

“I don’t really try to be.”

“So, when you’ve talked to her, you’ve just left it out?” CJ asked me. Again, I looked down at my desk. “Joshua!” she yelled.

“I’m the victim!” I yelled. “Why can’t anyone see that I’m the victim?”

“Because you’re not,” CJ said shaking her head.

“Not in the slightest,” said Toby.

I dropped my head to my desk. “I know.”

“Ahh,” said Toby. “A step towards manhood. A small step, but a step none the less…”

“I refuse to take all the blame for this!” I shouted one beer and thirty minutes later.

“Of course you do. That goes with the not being a man thing,” CJ said, reaching for another beer herself.

“It’s not my fault,” I say, taking a swig of my beer.

“It’s not?” CJ asks doubtfully.

“No!”

“How so?”

“She should have known how I’d react. She knows me. She knows I’m…” I trail off, not really knowing what I’m talking about at this point.

“Not a man?” Toby asks.

“Exactly!” I stopped and looked at them. “Wait.”…

“Ok, I’m just gonna go out on a limb here,” CJ said yet another beer and an hour later.

“What?”

“Maybe you should…” she stopped talking and looked at me, waving a hand towards me.

“Go to New Hampshire and drag her back here by her hair?” Cause I’d thought about that many times.

She looked at me and rolled her eyes. “No. Maybe you should…” again with the hand waving thing. 

“Offer her more money than what she’s making now? Cause that’s not gonna work. We’ve got practically nothing for a budget.”

She shook her head and looked at Toby. “Help me out here.”

He sighed and then looked at me. “What she’s saying is, maybe you should have a talk with her.”

“About coming back to me? I have some amount of pride, Toby.”

“Not much.”

“No, not much.”

“Kids,” CJ interrupted. “I’m just gonna say it. It’s been what, seven years. I’m saying it.”

Toby looked at her. “Are you sure?” he asked in a hushed voice.

“Don’t you think someone has to?” she asked him back, mumbling.

He took a deep breath and nodded. “As long as it doesn’t have to be me.”

“What the hell are you guys talking about?”

She looked over at me and got a determined look on her face and suddenly, I was scared. “Josh, why haven’t you ever asked Donna out?”

And there it was. The elephant that had been sitting in the corner of the bullpen for seven years was finally acknowledged. It was like someone pointed to it and said, “anyone ever noticed that there?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said, looking in the box I’d been packing earlier.

“Bullshit,” Toby laughed.

“Donna and I are friends, we…”

“Josh,” CJ said, cutting me off.

I played innocent. “You think there’s something between us? Hmm… maybe I’ll think…”

“Josh,” she cut me off again.

“I’ve never really given it…”

“Josh.”

Then I looked at her and looked at her hard. What exactly was it she wanted me to say? “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“And you don’t have to. Not with us.”

“Let’s just drop it,” I said quietly.

“Fine,” she said. “Toby?”

“Yes?”

“When Ginger took her leave of absence last year, did you accuse her of leaving you?”

“No.”

“Why?”

”She’s not my wife.”

“Hmm…” CJ said, looking pointedly at me.

“I thought we were gonna drop it,” I said, reaching for the last beer.

“I’m gonna say something here,” she said.

“You already did,” Toby reminded her.

“Yes. But, I’m going to say something else.”

“Please don’t,” I mumbled, taking a drink.

“Thank you.”

My eyes shot open and I almost spit beer from the bottle. That was not what I was expecting. “Thank me? For what?”

“As the former Press Secretary, I’d like to thank you for making my job easier by not dating your assistant.” I raised my eyebrows and looked at her.

“Hey, what about me? I didn’t date my assistant,” Toby said.

“No, but you did knock up your ex-wife.”

“Well…”

She turned back to me. “So, thank you.”

“Umm… you’re welcome?”

“Now, I’m going to say something else.”

“Can’t you do anything about this?” I asked Toby.

“No, not really.”

“For seven years, you didn’t ask her out. Why?”

“CJ…”

“Why?”

“We’re not…”

She interrupted me. “Why?” 

“It’s not that…”

She interrupted me again. “Why?”

“I was trying to make your job easier?”

“Why?”

I took a deep breath and figured I might as well be honest. “Because we worked together,” I said in a resigned voice.

She nodded. “So, you spent seven years not dating the woman you’re crazy about because you worked together, and now you’re not dating her because you don’t?” I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Finally, I closed it again. “See how smart I am?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yes. But that doesn’t solve my problem.”

“No,” said Toby.

“What problem?” CJ asked.

“Donna and Josh are on separate sides now.”

“Remember how well that worked when it was Amy?” I asked her.

“Are you really comparing the two?”

I nodded in agreement. “Good point. But, I’m gonna do what I have to do to win.”

She thought about that for a minute. “I don’t think she’s gonna have a problem with that?”

“You don’t?” I asked sarcastically.

But she just shook her head. “No, not if you’re honest. Not if she knows how you feel.”

“She knows,” Toby said quietly.

She looked at him. “Well, yeah. But…”

“Wait a minute!” I yelled. “She knows?”

They both looked at me like I was nuts. “Of course she knows. Don’t you know how she feels about you?”

“Yeah, but… I’m better at hiding my feelings than she is.”

Toby’s eyebrows shot up. “You are?”

Then mine shot up. “I’m not?”

He shook his head slowly. “No.”

“Hmm… so she knows?”

“Yes,” they said simultaneously.

“But,” said CJ. “You still have to tell her.”

“Are you sure? I mean, if she knows…” I stopped and looked at them.

“Call her, Josh.” Toby said.

“No,” said CJ.

“No?” he asked, making me wonder if I needed to be there for the discussion.

“No. You’ve got to show her.”

“Show her?” I asked.

“Yes. Show her.”

“How?”

“Flowers,” Toby said.

“No,” said CJ.

“No?” he asked her again.

“No. The next time you see her, you’ve got to kiss her.”

“Kiss her?” I squeaked.

“You don’t want to kiss her?”

At this point, my eyebrows were permanently up in my hairline. “I’ve never really thought…” I trailed off as they laughed at me.

“The next time you see her, kiss her.”

“The next time I see her.”

“Just walk up and kiss her.”

“Just walk up and kiss her, I guess.”

“Yep.”

“Right in the middle of the street,” I said, trying to show her how ridiculous it sounded.

“Wherever you are,” she said nodding.

“What if there are people around?”

“It’s got to be the next time you see her. It’s a statement. ‘I haven’t seen you in a while, and yes I’m an ass, but this is the first time I’ve seen you since it was ok to feel like this about you, and damn it, I’m not waiting another second.’”

“That’s the statement I want to make?”

“You might want to leave out the ‘ass’ part,” Toby said.

“Thanks for your help.”

“I told you. I’m not really here to do that.”

“Right.” I turned to CJ. “I can’t do that. I’ll probably run into her at a debate or something.”

“It doesn’t matter. Wherever it is, that’s where you have to do it.”

“I can’t!” I shrieked.

“I dare you,” she said to me.

“CJ, I’m not ten anymore.”

“Chicken.”

“I’m not falling for your crap, CJ.” 

“I double dare you,” she said, shrugging.

“You wouldn’t,” I accused.

“This is how we solve personal problems? Thank God the voters never see this,” Toby said under his breath, watching the display in front of him.

She looked at me and squinted her eyes. “I double dog dare you.”

“You’re on!”


	2. The Problem with Double Dog Dares

The problem with someone calling you a chicken is that it can’t go unanswered. Sure, your parents tried to teach you to take the high road, but that never really worked, did it? No, in the end you either proved you were or weren’t a chicken. You either walked away or you did whatever it was they wanted you to do…

********** 

“Are you going to answer me, or are you just going to stand there staring at me all day?” I ask him after watching him go through whatever mental thing he’s going through for a good minute.

His eyes have this look of panic in them. “I might be safer staring at you all day.”

“You kissed me on a dare,” I say in a quiet, steely voice in the hallway of the Russell headquarters. “In my boss’ office,” I say a little louder. “In front of my boss,” I say through gritted teeth.

He tries a slight smile, but dimples or not I’m not falling for it. “Yes on the last two, kind of on the first.”

“Were you trying to get me fired?” 

“What? No!”

“So you just thought it was appropriate to kiss me then and there?” 

He gets a bit of a smirk on his face. “You’re saying it would’ve been appropriate someplace else?” When he says that, my eyes must get bigger, because he flinches just a bit and takes a small step backwards as if I might hit him. Which I might.

“You’re deranged!” I say somewhat loudly, making a few people turn their heads and look at us.

“I was making a statement,” he says, putting his hands on his hips defiantly.

“That you’re deranged?”

“No. That this is the first time I’ve seen you since it was o… you know what? Just forget it. It was a mistake.”

“You’re damn straight it was!”

He stares at me for a second before going into defensive mode. “Don’t get pissy with me. You’re tongue was moving around just as much as mine was!” And with that, he turns on his heel and walks out.

********** 

I’ve been sitting in my office for the last twenty minutes, silently freaking out. There are many, many things to freak out about, not the least of which is that my boss saw me making out with the enemy.

You don’t know what it’s like. You see this person, this person who has become your entire life, every single day for years. You laugh with him, fight with him, banter with him, tease him, learn from him, teach him. You nurse him back to health, deal with his emotional baggage, ask for him before you go into surgery because he’s the only one who can make you really believe everything’s going to be ok. And if it’s not, if you’re going to die, he has to be the last person you see. He just has to be. Because if he’s become your entire life, the last moment of it must be filled with him. 

And then, you don’t see him. You don’t see him for two weeks and two days. You don’t see him and you don’t talk to him, and you wonder if he’s mad at you or if he hates you or if he misses you half as desperately as you miss him.

And then, you walk into your boss’ office talking about media events in Vermont, and there he is. And he says hi to you, and you say hi back and you can’t help the smile on your face. And you faintly hear your boss talking, but you’re just staring at each other, and then he says, “Hold on a sec, there’s something I have to do.” 

And then you watch him as he walks towards you. And before you really know what’s happening, he has a hand on your cheek, pulling you close to him, and then he’s kissing you. And it may start out soft and warm and light, but it quickly moves into a hungry, passionate, mind-blowing kiss that demands your reciprocation. And so, right there in your boss’ office, you kiss him back. Because you have to. Because you’ve been waiting for this kiss for seven years and eleven months, and it’s better than you ever thought it would be, and for a minute you really don’t give a damn if your boss is watching you, if you’re going to be fired, if you ever work again. You’re kissing him, and you have no intentions of stopping.

And then, after who knows how long, a minute, an hour, a year, the kiss ends and he leans his forehead against yours and your hands are still in his hair and your both panting, and he leans in closer and kisses you lightly on the lips, then the nose, then the cheek and finally back to your lips and it’s perfect, until… 

Your boss clears his throat and you both look over at him and you remember who you are and where you are and your face turns the color of a strawberry and this man looks at the ground, wiping lipstick from his lips, and then looks back at your boss and says, “You were saying?”

So, you see my dilemma. You see why I’m freaking the hell out. Why I stood fixated on the ground as Will and Josh discussed a no smear campaign as if nothing had happened a moment earlier. Why I followed him into the hallway to find out what the hell he was thinking. And yes, a part of me wanted to find out if there was any chance that was going to happen again any time soon in private without clothes on, but that’s a different subject altogether. And yes, that’s why I went from mildly bewildered to downright ticked off when he told me he did it because CJ double dog dared him to. What the hell??????

So, I do the only thing to do in this situation. I don’t care if she’s the White House Chief of Staff, if she dared Josh to kiss me in front of Will, I’m going to kill her. It might be difficult now that she’s attached at the hip to the President, who’s guarded by secret service, but I’ll find a way. So I take a deep breath and call her. And somewhat surprisingly, Margaret puts me right through.

“How’s the new job? Do you love it?” she asks me right away.

I can’t help smiling. “I do. Its so much more responsibility.” When I say that, I instantly realize that I’m talking to the White House Chief of Staff about my responsibility and that I must sound pretty lame. So I try to back peddle. “I mean, not as much as yours, but for me,” I say weakly.

She laughs a little. “Well, you’re sorely missed here, but I’m glad you’re being utilized. What’s up?”

I hesitate. “Is it possible, I mean, I’m sure it’s not. He’s just, well, you know how he can be. And maybe he misunderstood you or maybe he was trying to be an ass, or maybe he couldn’t help himself and then was later just trying to find someone to blame and your name popped out, or maybe he is deranged, I don’t know. But I’m sure you…”

“Donna,” she cuts me off.

“Yeah?” I asked, kind of dazed.

“I have a meeting in the sit room in ten minutes. Is there an actual question coming?”

“Oh, sorry. You’re busy. I’ll let you get back to work.”

“I’ve got a minute. Just, what?”

I take a deep breath and say it as quickly as possible. “Is it possible that you dared Josh to kiss me in front of Will?”

“What?” she laughs.

“See, I didn’t think so.”

“Josh kissed you in front of Will?”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“Really. It was…”

“Amazing?” she asks like a high school best friend.

I sigh. “Yeah, it really was.”

She laughs again. “He kissed you in front of Will?”

“Yeah. I walked into Will’s office and Josh was there. And I was kind of nervous because we hadn’t seen each other or talked since I quit, and then he told Will he had to do something and he walked over and…” I trail off.

“Oh, shit.”

“What?”

“It was the first time you two had seen each other?” she asks me.

“Yes,” I drawl out.

“He did it. He really did it,” she says quietly, I think to herself, not me.

She seems to be in some sort of daze, so I say her name. “CJ?”

“Huh? Yeah?”

“What do you know about this?”

“Well… when I said… I didn’t mean right in… wow.”

“CJ?” I ask sternly.

“I was partially drunk! It’s not my fault! I’d had four Heinekens and a glass of whiskey and coke!” she yells.

“CJ!”

“I didn’t think he’d do it right in front of Will. I thought he’d take you someplace private or at least out of the way. I didn’t think he’d do it right there! Is he nuts?” she yells.

“What did you tell him to do, CJ?”

It’s quiet for a minute and I begin to wonder if she hung up on me. “I dared him to kiss you the next time he saw you,” she says quickly and quietly a minute later.

“CJ!” I yell.

“I though it would make a statement!”

“What statement did you think it would make?”

“You know…” she kind of squeaks out. “That it was the first time he saw you since he was allowed to have those feelings for you and that he wasn’t going to wait another second.”

“What?” Are we talking about the taboo subject? The last time we did this, it didn’t go well. But wait a minute. Josh said he kissed me to make a statement. This statement? How romantic is that? “Is… is that the statement he wanted to make?” I ask her quietly.

Now she chuckles a little. “Well, he did kiss you, didn’t he?”

“Well… yeah, but… but you dared him to.” And that’s not romantic at all.

“Donna,” she says. “He wouldn’t have taken the dare if he didn’t want to kiss you.”

I snort. “You don’t know Josh. He would’ve kissed Toby if you’d dared him to.”

She takes moment to ponder this. “Well, I wish I’d known that before just now. But still, of course he wanted to. He’s been miserable since you left. The perks of it just hadn’t occurred to him until I pointed them out.”

“The perks?”

“Dating you,” she says to me.

“Oh.” Josh wants to date me? 

“So I dared him to take action. But, and let me be very clear on this. I never told him to kiss you in front of Will.”

“I yelled at him,” I whisper.

“I can imagine.”

“I didn’t realize…”

“There wasn’t an empty office he could’ve taken you to?”

I’m quiet for a minute. I’ve blown it. “What should I do now? He’s pissed at me.”

“No he’s not.”

“Yes he is. He stormed out of here. He made a statement and I yelled at him! I’ve got to…”

“Call him. Tell him to make the statement again,” she says casually.

“I can’t ask him to make the statement again. You can’t re-make statements like that!” I say, beginning to panic.

“You could make a statement of your own,” she suggests.

“What?”

“Make a statement of your own. Go to the Santos headquarters and kiss the hell out of him. Right in front of everyone there. You’ll make a statement and still be getting him back for kissing you in front of Will.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Yes. Do it. It’s a great idea.”

“Because it worked so well the first time? No way. I’m not just going to walk into the headquarters and… no.” I’m shaking my head back and forth quickly, which she can’t see, but I find important to do anyway.

“I dare you.”

“CJ. I’m not a child. I’m unaffected by dares.”

“I double dog dare you.”

“Still unaffected.”

“Come on. You know you want to.” She’s goading me. I can’t believe she’s goading me!

“What is this? Peer pressure?”

“Come on Donna. He took a step. An idiotic one, yes, but a step. It took him seven years to take it; can’t you meet him half way? He can’t take a step like this alone, I bet money he’s freaking out right now.”

“I could call him. I should just call him. That’s the smarter move,” I tell her. 

“It’s not risking and daring. He took a chance on you. His statement was risking and daring!” 

“And moronic,” I remind her.

“Of course it was, it was Josh.”

“Even if I did want to. He’s not there. He’s at the post office. Santos has a thing there.” 

“Go there then,” she says in an excited voice.

“I can’t.”

“Of course you can.”

“No I can’t. It’s…”

She interrupts me. “Chicken.”

“I’m not a chicken!”

“Then do it,” she dares.

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“Chicken.” 

“I’m not a chicken!”

“Bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk.” Chicken sounds! She’s making chicken sounds?

“I’m not a chicken!”

“You look like a chicken to me,” she says casually.

“CJ!”

“Chicken.”

“Fine! Fine! I’ll do it! I’ll go there and make a complete ass out of myself. I’ll make a statement! Happy?”

“Yes,” she says, laughing.

“I’m gonna get you for this,” I say just before hanging up and beating my head on my desk.


	3. The Problem with Double Dog Dares

I’m pretending to listen to Ronna but keeping an eye on the presidential candidate who’s making my life hell today, when a van pulls up. Glancing over, I see Donna sitting in the passenger seat. Great. That’s what I need now, Donna yelling at me in front of the man I’m trying to get elected president.

Now, I’ve thought about this since this morning. Kissing her then and there might not have been the smartest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But it’s certainly not the stupidest thing either. I mean, really. I’ve dated Mandy Hampton and Amy Gardner, twice. This wasn’t even close to as stupid as that was. Why couldn’t she see that?

It occurs to me, as I watch Donna step out of the van, as if in slow motion, that maybe I never should have listened to CJ. I mean, really? She’s whom I choose to seek advice from on love? She’s my age, four months older to be exact, and she’s still single. Why would I think she knows any more than I do? She’s as pathetic in this whole love thing as I am. What was I thinking?

But the thing is, I wanted to do that. I’ve wanted to for years. And when she walked into that room, looking as beautiful as ever, and she smiled at me in that way that made me feel like the most important man on the planet, it didn’t matter that CJ had dared me. That was Donna and for the first time in my life, it wasn’t taboo for me to touch her, kiss her, taste her, and damn it, I was going to. So I swallowed my insecurities and I forced my feet to move to her. To Donna…where I belong. And with just one touch of my hand to her cheek there was no turning back. 

But why did I just go back to business as usual? Why do I do that? I take a step forward with her, and then just turn around and take a step back. I see myself making progress and then pretending as though that never happened, but I can’t seem to stop myself. It’s almost as if some moron is putting words in my mouth, forcing me to act in a way I know is preposterous, and his entire goal is to drive me insane by dangling Donna in front of my face and then taking her away. I mean, Donna probably had questions for me today. She was probably confused. We probably should have discussed what that kiss meant. Instead, I turned to Will and went on with the meeting. Why? 

I know why. Of course I know why. For just the reason I said above. She probably had questions for me. And being me, I certainly wasn’t ready to answer any questions and even if I had been, I wouldn’t have wanted to answer them in front of Will. I mean, like I’m going to discuss my love life in front of Will Bailey. Of course, I’m the one who dragged Will Bailey into my love life by beginning it, or attempting to, in front of him. I know I don’t make sense, just go with me here.

And then out in that hallway, I had to me. I just had to be. I told her I kissed her because it was a dare. Imagine how that would feel. The man you love, and yes, I realize I’m making assumptions there, finally kisses you after working together for seven years and eleven months, take away the six weeks when she went back to Freeride, and then he tells you it was because of a dare? That couldn’t have made her feel wanted, needed, loved, appreciated, sexy, swept off her feet… all the things I wanted her to feel. No…instead of saying something suave, something like, ‘I’ve been waiting to do that for what felt like my whole life and I just couldn’t wait another second,” I say ‘It’s not my fault. CJ double dog dared me.” That’s what I chose to say???????

She says hi as she approaches and I somehow manage one back. She doesn’t look as pissed as she was before, but my ego is still bruised, and so I don’t show any enthusiasm. She and Ronna have a thing and then I ask her if Donna and I can have a minute and she leaves.

“You couldn’t have done that this morning?” she asks me.

“What?”

”Told Will we needed a minute alone.”

I smirk a little as I once again realize that her problem wasn’t with the kiss itself. “It would’ve blown the surprise,” I say, looking straight ahead.

“Well, I was surprised. I’ll give you that.”

“Did you get in trouble with your…boss?” I ask hesitantly. It’s hard for me to acknowledge that she works for anyone other than me, especially him.

She shrugs. “I’ve been avoiding him.”

I nod. “I’m sorry…about earlier.”

Her head snaps in my direction. “Are you apologizing to me?”

I finally look over at her. “Yes.”

She smiles an evil little smile, which actually makes me feel a little better, like everything’s going to be ok. “Are you feeling ok?”

“I can apologize,” I say defensively, but with a smile of my own.

“Really? I’ve never heard you.”

“Well, I’ve apparently never done anything to you before that warranted it,” I say smugly.

She makes a pff sound, but then looks at the ground. “Are you really sorry?” she asks quietly.

“Yes,” I say soberly.

“About what?”

“What do you mean, about what?” I screech out. “Don’t you remember?”

She looks back at me. “It was three hours ago, Josh. Of course I remember,” she deadpans.

“Then why are you…”

“What exactly about it are you sorry about, about earlier?” she asks, interrupting me.

My eyebrows shoot up. “Was that a real sentence?”

She glares at me. “Could you please work with me here?”

“Fine. But I really don’t know what you’re asking me.”

She takes a deep breath, still glaring at me. “Are you sorry about the entire…” she waves her hand between us.

I stare at her, waiting for her to continue. “I’m sorry. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’re an idiot.”

I throw my hands in the air. “Thank you. I appreciate it. Really. I love days where I kiss a woman who calls me deranged, then accuses me of trying to get her fired, and finally calls me an idiot. Days like that are wonderful. They do well for my ego.”

“Your ego can use a little deflating,” she says pointedly. “What about a day where you’re kissed in your boss’ office two weeks into a new job by your old boss who no doubt hates that you left him and you’re then told that said kiss was only done because of a double dog dare. What does that day do for your ego?” 

“I never said only,” I say quietly.

“What?” 

“I never said only. You said that I told you I only kissed you because of a dare. I never said only.”

“Oh.” It gets quiet for a minute and we both go back to looking at our shoes. “You still haven’t answered my question,” she finally says.

“I still don’t understand your question.”

“Bullshit. You know exactly what I was asking you. You knew what I was asking the first time. You knew what I was asking before the words actually came out of my mouth because you saw the question in my eyes. You know the question.”

“Yeah,” I sigh more than say.

“So?”

“I was trying to make a statement,” I say instead of answering the question. I don’t want to answer the question. I made the statement, why do I have to answer the question too? 

“That didn’t answer the question.”

“I had it planned out.”

“And my reaction isn’t what you were expecting.”

I shake my head. “No.”

“I don’t know what you were ex…”

“My reaction wasn’t what I planned either,” I interrupt, stressing the word ‘my.’

“What?”

“I didn’t mean to…”… be a pansy ass and chicken shit and go on with a meeting instead of talking about it. I don’t say any of that last stuff. I don’t quite know how to word it. 

“Turn to Will and pretend it never happened?”

I nod, still looking at my shoes. “Right.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“No.”

“Well, would you?”

“I just did.”

She turns towards me. I keep my head down, but I can see her out of the corner of my eye. “Oh…” she says after a minute. It’s quiet again after that, and then she asks, “Which parts aren’t you sorry about?”

“I think you know.”

We leave that hang out there for a minute and it occurs to me that Donna and I have never had this many pauses in a conversation. I think it’s because we never let each other contemplate for too long. That would’ve been dangerous. But now, we just stand here quietly and stare at the ground, caught up in our thoughts.

“You were trying to make a statement,” she says quietly a minute later.

“Yes.”

She picks her head up and looks at me. “I’m going to make a statement too.”

I look up. “You are?” I ask her, eyebrows raised. What statement is she going to make?

She nods once. “Yes. I’m going to hug you.”

Oh. That statement. “That’s great. That’s just what a man wants after kissing a woman. A friendly hug.”

“Shut-up and hug me.”

“Fine.” I turn towards her and hug her. I bury my face in the shoulder of her coat and just hold her. I’ve missed her so much that although it’s not the reaction I was hoping for, and just so we’re clear on that, I was hoping for something with a lot less clothing involved, it’s still nice. 

Whoa. What is that? I’m standing here hugging Donna, when all of a sudden my earlobe is in her mouth and her fingers are in my hair? What’s going on? “Uh, Donna?” I squeak out like a 12 year-old going through puberty. Is it completely impossible for me to sound like a man when I’m flustered? She doesn’t answer me, she just continues with the earlobe thing, which I like a lot, by the way. 

“Donna? Uhh…” Words trail off and turn into a groan as she starts kissing my neck, sucking a piece of skin into her mouth. It occurs to me that I should maybe be reciprocating, but I’m paralyzed where I stand. And then, as quickly as it began, she pulls back and looks at me. 

It takes me just a second to find my voice. “Umm… you didn’t really say anything. You just…”

“You didn’t say anything in your statement either,” she says smiling, starting to back away from me.

“Don’t go!” Oh wow. That sounded pathetic. “Statement with me some more.” Statement with me some more????? Smooth.

She wiggles her eyebrows. “I already did. You just donl't know it yet,” she says, taking a stack of letters from someone and turning around, heading into the post office.

What the hell is she talking about? I stare at her as she walks away, God she’s beautiful. 

Ronna comes back a minute later. “She works for Russell?”

“Yeah,” I say, tearing my eyes from the post office doors and turning to Ronna. I put my hands in my pockets and my head down into my coat a little, trying to both warm up and hide the look of awe on my face.

“What’re all the letters?”

“Hmm…” I ask, pulling something out of my pocket and looking at it. 

“The letters?” She sees the post-it note I’m holding. “What’ya got?”

I read the post-it note in my hand. ‘Colby Hill Inn. Room 5.’ “Hmm?” I ask, looking up at her. She nods towards the note. “Oh this?” I say smiling in what is no doubt a pre-pubescent way. “It’s a statement.”


	4. A Waste of Shaved Legs

“Can you, ah, hold the elevator?” I hear just as the elevator door closes. I hit the button and it opens again and Josh steps inside talking on the phone. I blame the late hour, my lack of sleep, and the two coach section plane trips in two days on not recognizing his voice. Had I, I probably wouldn’t have tried so damn hard to reach the button.

It takes him a few seconds to notice me, at which point he asks some guy named Stewart to call him back in five minutes. It makes me inexplicably happy that he was talking to a man, which in turn just pisses me off even more. How does he do that to me? Don’t answer that. It was a rhetorical question.

“Just get back?” he asks me. I don’t reply. I just continue shooting daggers out of my eyes.

“How’s it going for you guys?” he asks several seconds later when it becomes apparent that I’m not going to answer. Again, I just stare straight ahead. 

I’m just saying. I made a statement. I made a statement because he made a statement and I felt bad because I hadn’t reacted to his poorly timed statement the way he wanted me to. And because CJ called me a chicken and being called a chicken can’t go unanswered. So I made a statement. A statement that was far less obvious to anyone who might have been looking at us, but was still just as obvious to him as his statement had been to me. 

So I made the statement and he seemed to enjoy it. He, in fact, had asked me to stay and statement with him some more, which not only led me to believe he enjoyed the statement, but made me giggle like a seventh grader being asked to her first school dance. 

So, after the earlobe sucking, I did what any normal woman would do. I finished my work for the day as quickly as possible so I could get to my hotel room and get ready for the first time I’d ever have sex with Josh Lyman. Let’s face it; I’ve pictured this at least twice over the last seven years. Maybe three times, but I’m not willing to admit to any more than that. Things like that are between me, my diary, and by extension Cliff Calley.

So, seeing as how I’ve… considered sex with Josh two to three times previously, I knew exactly how I wanted the night to go. And, it being January in New Hampshire, I had things I needed to do for the night to be perfect. Things like shaving my legs. What? Like you shave your legs everyday in the winter? Right. Twice a week unless I’m having sex, and that’s a good week.

So I left the office early for the day and headed back to the bed and breakfast. I showered; shaving my legs and using my sugar scrub, then applied pearberry body lotion generously. I know Josh likes the smell of pearberry lotion on me. He once mentioned it when he was drunk and sleeping it off on my couch. I remember, because I had leaned over him to pull the blanket up to his chin, and he had taken a big sniff and then told me that I smelled as beautiful as I looked. Then, as I stood immobile over him, trying to regain the power of breath, he had kissed me on the cheek, closed his eyes and immediately began snoring softly. As usual, he didn’t remember any of that the next morning.

I’m sorry, back to the story. I had showered, sugared, pearberried, and painted my toenails, another activity that usually doesn’t take place in the winter. In fact, I didn’t even have any nail polish with me; I had to run out to the drugstore on the corner for some, where I also picked up a box of condoms. I’m on the pill, but couldn’t really fathom a guess at when Josh had last slept with Amy Gardner. You just never can be sure with him. 

Anyway, when I was leaving for the drugstore, I asked the innkeeper to start a fire in my room, and it was going nicely when I returned. And although I didn’t have any sexy pajamas with me, I had found a black lace underwear/bra set that I figured would do nicely. So I put that on with a black skirt that goes just above the knee and a form fitting v-neck shirt that showed a little cleavage. And then I waited. And waited. And waited…

And now, I just want to tear his head off. “So, uh… how’ve you…” he trails off when I give him the evil eye and look back towards the elevator door. 

It had been after midnight that night when I’d called CJ and yelled at her once again for her crazy ideas and her daring and her chicken sounds, and she had informed me that she was ten years older than me and single and that should’ve been clue enough not to listen to her. I had to admit that she had a valid point, and then we’d both crawled into our respective beds and gossiped.

“Is it possible that he didn’t understand the statement you were making?”

“I sucked on his earlobe, CJ. That’s a departure from our usual banter.”

“Cause that probably wouldn’t have gone over so well here in the White House,” she said casually.

“I can’t be sure, but I’d always assumed that sort of thing would be frowned upon,” I said just as casually.

“Regardless, we’re pretty sure he understood that statement. I mean, even Josh would get that. I think.”

“And I know he saw the post-it note with my room number on it. I watched him read it with a silly grin on his face from just inside the post office.”

“And he just didn’t show? He finally got the green light and he didn’t show?” She was as surprised as I was.

“No. And I went to a lot of trouble CJ. I had a fire and sexy underwear.”

“You even shaved, didn’t you?”

“Yes, and painted my toenails,” I said in a pouty voice.

“In January?”

“Exactly!”

“I could probably have him killed now without too much of a fuss.”

“Really?”

“I’m surprised daily at the amount of power I have,” she said, making me laugh yet still leaving me a bit scared. I mean, this is CJ. CJ Cregg, who once begged me to help her come up with a plan to hide the fact that she broke a sacred cat statue.

“Hmm… I’ll think about it.”

“Do that. What else is going on?”

“Well, there’s a twenty year-old volunteer that has it pretty bad for Will.”

“Really?” she asked me, surprised. Will’s strange. He’s got a weird face. She and I have discussed it many times.

“Yeah, it’s pretty pathetic. And he’s absolutely clueless. She could walk into his office naked and he’d just ask where the information he’d asked her for was.”

“Hey, Carol had a date last night with FedEx Fred.”

“FedEx Fred?” I screeched. 

“The one and only,” she’d said with pride. Like Carol was her protégé and had won the prize. FedEx Fred, whose actual name is Mark, is hot. I mean hot. He’s been delivering FedEx packages to the White House for three years. Ginger, Carol, CJ and I have been hanging around the front gate between 9:30 and 10:00 as much as possible ever since. Besides Josh, FedEx Fred is the thing I miss most from the White House. Well, him and the chocolate chip cookies from the mess. Betty used to call me in the bullpen when they came out of the oven and I would go down and get them while they were warm. I miss her too. But not as much as FedEx Fred.

We’d talked about other things too; Toby’s grumpy mood now that Sam and Josh were both gone and the cafeteria guy who she missed flirting with because Margaret had her on a strict diet to prevent another chief of staff having a heart attack. At one, we’d said goodnight and I’d tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire before going to sleep. The next morning, I left for Maine.

“I’m, uh… sorry I didn’t…” he trails off.

“Whatever. It’s fine,” I say with a tone of ice.

“Yeah. I can tell,” he says sarcastically.

“I just… never mind.” How slow is this fucking elevator?

“What?”

I finally turn and face him. “You acted like you…forget it.”

“I did!” he screeches in his voice that I usually love but makes me want to rip his head off his shoulders right now. 

“Yeah, I could tell,” I say heatedly.

“I… we had a thing and… people showed up we weren’t expecting, and I didn’t get out of there until almost midnight. I didn’t want…”

“To call?” I ask.

“No. I didn’t want to…” He trails off again just as the elevator comes to a stop and the doors open. 

I look at him for a second, but he doesn’t make any attempts to explain himself, so I grip the FedEx tube tighter and grab my suitcase. “Yeah, I got that message loud and clear,” I say and start to leave the elevator.

I’m half way out of the elevator when he grabs the end of the FedEx tube and yanks it back towards him. “Wait,” he says.

“Why?” I ask him pointedly. “You haven’t given me one good reason to.” I pull on the tube, but he doesn’t let go of it.

“I didn’t want to make you a stop on my way home. I wanted to be able to spend time with you.”

“You could’ve called. You could’ve called and said ‘I’m sorry, but I’m not going to make it tonight.’ That would’ve killed you?” He just looks at me. “Let go of the box. I’m tired and I want to go to bed,” I say, yanking it again.

“I called the inn the next morning. You’d checked out,” he says, keeping a grip on the box.

I glance to the door just as it closes. Who in the hell does he think he’s fooling? “I have a cell phone, you know,” I say as I hit the door open button. “Until two weeks ago, I was number one on your speed dial.”

“You still are.”

“Be still my heart. Let go of the damn box.” He looks at me for a second and lets go of the box. I turn and step out of the elevator, refusing to look back even as I hear the doors close again. 

“Donna…” he says. He followed me out of the elevator? What the hell?

“I made a statement!” I shouted, keeping my back to him. 

“I know!”

Realization hits me and I spin around to face him. “That’s why you stood me up,” I say in shock.

“What?” he asks, looking at me like I’ve grown a third eye.

“You stood me up because of the way I reacted to your statement. It was payback.”

“No,” he says, shaking his head back and forth.

“That’s it! I didn’t react to your statement the way you wanted me to, so you thought, ‘let her light a fire and play soft music and shave her legs and buy condoms and paint her toenails and put on sexy underwear, and then see how she likes it when I stand her up.’ Well, this is how I like it!” I shout.

His eyebrows shoot up. “You… bought condoms?”

I roll my eyes. “Go to hell.” I turn to leave and Josh grabs the FedEx tube again. I decide whatever’s in the tube isn’t worth standing there in humiliation any longer, and I let if fall from my arm and start heading down the hall.

I make it all of three steps before I feel his hand on my elbow, pulling me back to him again. When I turn around to yell at him, he pushes me against the wall and kisses me. It’s short and hard and I’m far too stunned to do anything but stand there, unmoving and not participating.

“I’m sorry,” he says when he pulls back from me. He still has a grip on my elbow that doesn’t hurt, but makes it clear that he doesn’t want me to leave. And he’s standing very close. “I wanted to be there. I really wanted to be there. I’m not sure there are words to express how badly I wanted to be there. I wasn’t standing you up on purpose, I just… I couldn’t make it and I was afraid to call because I thought you’d be mad, so I chickened out and called the campaign office the next morning to leave you a message so I wouldn’t have to say it to your face. But they said you were going to Maine and wouldn’t be in. Then I called the inn and they said you’d checked out and I knew I had to call your cell, but I put it off and put it off and then it had been three days and it seemed ridiculous to call at that point. And then it seemed ridiculous period, because I realized that you of all people know how the campaign trail is and wouldn’t have been mad at all if I’d just called and told you that night.”

I shake my head slightly. “I wouldn’t have been mad. Not if you’d called.”

He closes his eyes and then looks at me. “I know.” We stare at each other. “I’m no good at this,” he whispers.

“Well,” I say with a serious voice. “You’re going to have to get better.”

He nods and smiles slightly. “I will. I promise I will. Just…give me a chance.”

Now it’s my turn to smile and nod. I lean forward to kiss him, and let my lips graze his lightly. Then I kiss his cheek lightly, and then his ear. He groans and I feel his hands on my face, pulling me back to his mouth and this kiss is anything but light as he leans his weight on me and puts his hand in my hair, our tongues tasting every bit of each other’s mouth.

I have no idea how long we stand there like that, but we rip apart from each other as the elevator door opens again. We’re both panting as though we’ve run a marathon and I glance over and notice three of the buttons on his shirt are undone and his tie is pulled loose from around his neck. I wonder how that happened. 

“Josh, good,” says Matt Santos.

“Uhh… Governor.”

The congressman chokes back a laugh. “I have an idea about tomorrow’s speech. I was just coming to get you.” When he says that, he looks at me and tilts his head a little. “Hello,” he says.

I stare at him like I’ve just been caught behind the bleachers. “Um… hi.”

“Congressman,” says Josh. “This is, umm… this is Donna Moss.”

He smiles and reaches his hand out. “Hi.”

Still shocked and horrified, I shake his hand and try to smile. “Hello.”

“Do you need a minute?” he asks Josh. 

Josh looks at me and starts to talk when I jump in. “No, we’re done for tonight. We can finish this later.” He starts to protest, but I smile at him so he knows I’m not mad. 

“You sure?” he asks me quietly.

I nod and keep smiling. “Good luck tomorrow, Congressman,” I say, picking up the FedEx tube and heading down the hall. I’m three or four doors down when I hear the congressman laugh and tell Josh he might want to wipe the lipstick off his face.


	5. The Problem with Double Dog Dares

I have the near uncontrollable urge to yell ‘good riddins’ as Amy leaves the debate, but somehow I hold my tongue. I know it was my fault. I jumped the gun, I went off like a lunatic and fired her, but come on, it’s her. I mean really, I think she’s been fired from more jobs than she’s actually held. Why in the hell do people keep hiring her and why does she still have so much damn clout?

Anyway, I start to follow her to apologize, but I couldn’t be any sicker of her games and her… well, her, so I end up just watching her walk out with a mixture of relief that she’s gone and dread that someday she’ll probably be back. Then I turn around to watch the debate and I notice Donna, the woman I recently kissed, then stood up, then kissed again, standing in a corner with her eyes glued to a file, biting her thumb lightly like she does when she’s deep in thought.

Something must hit her, because her eyebrows shoot up and she walks over to Will and says something. He nods and she walks up to Bingo Bob on stage, who’s adjusting his mic and probably practicing that horrible joke of his, and says something to him. He listens intently to her, which is possibly the smartest move he’s ever made, then looks at what she’s holding. She opens the folder and shows him something else and he looks back at her and must ask her a question, because she nods and starts talking with a look on her face like she’s explaining something to him. He writes something down on his notes and nods as she talks, then looks at the file again and writes something else down. That’s my girl.

And speaking of my girl, damn, she looks beautiful tonight. Has she always been that beautiful? Really, is it possible that I held myself back from someone that beautiful for all those years? Cause if so, that’s really saying something.

What’s not saying anything is the fact that this amazing woman has been mine for the taking, and please don’t ever tell her I said that, for a good three weeks now, and I’ve done very little about it. First, there was the whole statement in Will’s office, followed by the statementing that went on outside the post office. Then, in true Josh Lyman fashion, I made a colossal mistake. Let’s not re-hash it. Donna forgave me, and that’s what’s important. 

However, before I was given the chance to ravish her body in the hallway of the Holiday Inn, and believe me, that’s what was going to happen, Congressman Santos took me away and made me work. The next two nights ended around three a.m. for me, and then next morning she left. I managed to suck on her neck for four and a half minutes before the volunteer showed up to take her to the airport, but that’s it. Since then, it’s been phone calls and e-mails.

She glances over at me and I smile, but she just turns her head back to the stage again. Uh oh; no smile back. What’d I do now? No need to panic, right? I mean, why would I assume I’ve done something to piss her off? I’m not always to blame, am I? I am, aren’t I? I’m hyperventilating. I haven’t even seen her in two weeks, what could I have done?

And what do I do now? Do I go over there? Can I keep from kissing her if I go over there? Doubtful. Do I try to get her attention and give her the universal ‘is everything ok’ head nod? I’m really no good at that nod. Do I wait until the debate’s over and then try to get her attention? Like there’s gonna be time for that. Realistically, the real work starts after the debate. That’s when we have to go back and watch the tape to see where everyone screwed up. Do I slip her a note? What is this, third grade? Do I walk on stage right now, grab a microphone and announce to the world that I’m in love with one Donnatella Moss and then sing a stupid song like… hell, I don’t know, “Oh Donna?” Have you ever heard me sing? It’s less than amazing.

The debate starts and the moderator doles out the congressman’s rules. They’re good rules. It’s basically the same debate we got during the second campaign for President Bartlett. He kicked Ritchie’s ass that night. Ahh… the good ole days.

I, as to not draw attention to myself, start casually making my way to Donna’s corner. The first question is asked and Hoynes does his best to dodge it while still answering it, as per the rules. It’s quite entertaining and I pause to watch it. This is a man who’s never, at least not to my knowledge, answered a question directly. I watch for sweat to start dripping down his forehead, but it never happens. He actually holds his own pretty well. He’s a politician, no doubt about it. Possibly the best one up there. 

A few more feet and I stop at the coffee station. I don’t want any, it’s just part of the ‘making my way to Donna to see if I’ve pissed her off without looking like an obvious love-sick fool’ plan I’ve got going here. I pour myself a cup and then I have a brilliant idea. Instead of using one cream and four sugars, as I prefer it, I use two creams and one sweet and low, the way Donna prefers it. It’s probably in my best interest to walk over there with a peace offering.

Congressman Santos has a rebuttal for Hoynes and does very well. Amy’s right, he doesn’t have the voice of the President. I’m learning that that’s ok though. The way he came across on that ad last night was brilliant. He’s going to appeal to people because he doesn’t spin. He’s not like every other politician up there, and that’s going to work in his favor. He’s not afraid to tell the truth, and I need to start letting him do it more often.

The third question goes to the idiot who thinks everyone should be forced to carry a handgun, so I ignore him and begin the mission of casually getting to Donna. I’m about five feet away from her when my phone rings. Damn it.

“Hello?” I whisper.

“He’s doing good,” Leo says to me.

“Yeah.”

“The ad was great.”

“Don’t tell me, I didn’t write it.”

“He played it off the cuff?”

“Yes, trying to give me a stroke no doubt.”

“Been there. I see what you see in him.” Wow, I didn’t know I’d been waiting to hear that from Leo. But the relief I feel right now tells me I have been. He told me to go out there and find my guy, and he trusted me to find one as good as the one he found. I can’t help smiling as I realize that he thinks I might have actually succeeded.

“Let’s hope the rest of the nation does too.”

“What’s up with the gun guy?” he asks with a slight chuckle.

“I know. Is he even a democrat?”

“At the end of the debate, it’ll be clear who the three candidates are.”

“Then the real fun begins.” The moderator asks Russell a question about health care and funding for low-income families. “Gotta go.”

I hang up as I finish the walk to Donna. I hand her the coffee, which she takes without looking at me, and we both stand quietly while Russell answers. It’s a good answer, although he answers it like he’s reading it rather than saying it. One glance at the folder Donna’s holding tells me where he got the answer. Damn we need her on our side.

“Good answer. Yours?” I whisper to her.

“Yes,” she says dryly.

One of the other hacks gets a question and I brush her arm lightly with my fingers. She shifts away from me and keeps her eyes on the debate. Ok, change tactics. “You look great,” I whisper again.

“So glad you noticed,” she says sarcastically. Ok, it’s official. I’m in trouble.

“What’d I do?”

“I’m trying to watch the debate.”

“What’d I do?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s your campaign and you can run it anyway you see fit.”

My campaign? Why’s she pissed about the campaign? She knows I’m playing to win. Was it the ad? The chicken? The…. oh no.

“Donna….”

“Shh…” she points to the stage where Hoynes is answering another question. It’s a typical Hoynes answer and the moderator calls him on it, asking him to clarify and stay on topic.

I lean into her ear when he’s done answering the question. Damn she smells good. “The congressman hired her, not me.” 

“It’s none of my business,” she says, still not looking at me. We’re both quiet while Congressman Santos answers a question about his education plan. That one’s still not popular.

“She was only here for three days, and we fought the whole time.”

“I’m not interested in your foreplay with Amy.” Foreplay? 

“She was mean to me.”

“So nothing’s changed then.” What was that tone? I’ve never heard her use that tone before. I’ve used it, but only when I was… 

“You’re jealous!”

She scoffs. “Right.”

“You are!” I say in a joyous voice. A few people look back at us, guess that was a little above a whisper. I give an ‘oops’ look as an apology and we stand silently next to each other and watch the rest of the debate. 

This is newsworthy. Donna’s jealous. Jealous of someone gettin’ her man. A jealous woman, that’s hot. HOT! I must have her now. I can’t believe this. And of Amy of all people. You know what that means. She wanted me when we were in the White House. Oh yeah, she wants me bad. I am ‘da man. 

When the candidates are giving their closing statements an hour and a half later, she starts to walk towards Will. “Donna.” I say smirking, grabbing her hand in mine.

“I’ve got work to do, Josh,” she says angrily, tugging on her hand, which I refuse to let go of.

I head to the doors with her, and she reluctantly lets me pull her outside. I lean against the railing and pull her close to me. “Donna, are you jealous of Amy?”

“Please. I don’t have time for this,” she says while looking over my right shoulder. She tries to take her hand back again, but I just keep holding on. 

I put on my best smile. “History’s not repeating itself, Donna.”

When I say that, she looks me straight in the eyes and without remorse, says, “History already did, Josh.” Ouch. True, but ouch.

I rub my thumb over her knuckles and watch her face. “Yes, but you’re the one I want now. You’re the one I wanted then, granted, which doesn’t help my case here, but I’m no longer willing to settle. You’re the only option for me now.” 

She looks down at her feet and mumbles, “You started to follow her.”

I bring her hand up to my mouth and kiss it, letting my lips linger. “I fired her yesterday without reason. I was considering apologizing.”

She looks up and for the first time since I saw her tonight smiles slightly. “Considering?”

I shrug. “I decided I didn’t care if she hates me.” 

She smiles at me and tilts her head. “So no Amy?”

I shake my head slightly. “No Amy,” I tell her. 

She bites at he lower lip and I lean in close to her and whisper in her ear. “I want to make a statement really badly right now.”

She laughs quietly but pulls back and shakes her head. “No.”

“Why not? Your boss saw us statement, my boss saw us statement…”

“The press core doesn’t need to see us statement.” 

I sigh heavily. I’ve pretty much had a constant erection since she told me in Iowa that she’d purchased condoms. “Fine. But I’m going to whine for the rest of the night.”

“That’s ok,” she says shrugging. “I don’t work for you any more.” She drops my hand and starts to turn away from me to go back inside, but then she stops and turns back to me. “Did I tell you Colin’s in the states. He’s thinking about covering the campaign. He might be tagging along with us for a few days.”

“Donna!!!” I will kill that bastard!

Her smile turns mischievous. “Jealous Josh?”

“Yes! Always! Of every man.”

She laughs which makes me smile. “You’re a pig, you know that?”

I nod and flash her my dimples. “Yes.”


	6. The Problem with Double Dog Dares

Will and I walk into the White House and Josh is standing there in the lobby on his phone. I haven’t seen him in a week, since the last debate, and he’s looking good enough to taste, so I can’t help but reach over and lightly pinch his butt as we pass, which makes him jump. I don’t look back as we go into the lobby, but I can just about imagine the look on his face.

A month and a half. That’s how long it’s been since the first statement was made and the condoms were purchased. Did I feel… what word am I looking for… easy…for purchasing condoms with the intentions of using them the day of our first kiss? No. Maybe I should’ve, but eight years people. Eight years. When in the hell are we going to move this thing along?

I go through the bullpen out of habit and stop at Josh’s office. I’ve never seen it so clean. The desk is empty, the computer’s turned off, and there’s no coat on the rack. The bookshelf still has books on it, but not as many, and the chalkboard’s not there any more. I lean on the doorframe and look at it for a minute. The non-work thoughts that went through my mind in this room…

An hour or so later, Senator Rafferty’s statement about health care comes out and something hits me as odd. I seek Josh out, only to find him in the lobby again, once again talking on his phone. Hot. The man looks hot. Or maybe I just need sex. Sex, with Josh. Hmm… suddenly non-work thoughts are going through my mind again. Senator Rafferty, Donna, remember Senator Rafferty.

I walk up to him and tell him to hang up. He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, but I ignore him and drag him into a closet to talk to him about this statement.

“Is our relationship about to change?”

“The rest of Senator Rafferty’s plan came… wait…” I look up at him. “Did you just ask if our relationship was about to change?”

He shrugs and has a rather painful look on his face. “I panicked.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Because I thought it was pretty clear that our relationship is indeed changing.”

He nods. “Yes.”

“Because up until two months ago, we’d never…you know.”

“Made statements.”

“You’re going to continue to use that word for the rest of our lives, aren’t you?”

“I plan to, yes,” he says, either not catching onto the ‘rest of our lives’ part of the question or not freaking out by it. I’m going with the not catching it option.

“So, the question…” 

“I panicked Donna. We’re in the White House. The building I spent seven years denying any…” he waves his hands around.

“Feelings?”

“Yes, denying any feelings I may or may not have had. It’s a habit. I can’t be…” he waves his hands around again.

“Feeling things?” This is fun. He’s freaking out.

“Yes, I can’t be feeling things for you in the White House. My brain won’t go there.”

“So you’re saying you don’t feel things for me in the White House?” I ask him in mock indignation, which makes him immediately back-peddle.

“No! No! I do. I feel things. Many, many things.” He growls that last part out.

Do not smile at him. “But you said...”

“My brain goes into denial mode here.”

“I see,” I say, unable to keep the smile off my face any longer.

“You really don’t.”

“No, but you’re kind of cute trying to explain it like that.” I lean in and kiss him softly on the neck.

“Donna!!!!!”

“What?”

“This is the White House!!!”

I let my lips travel up to his jaw line. “We’ve been through that.”

“We can’t statement… not here.” He’s got the voice thing going on. You know the one.

I switch sides of his neck and he groans. “Why not? Are they gonna fire us?”

“Funny. You’re very funny.”

I loosen his tie and unbutton his top button. “Think about it Josh,” I whisper and kiss him softly at that spot I love where neck becomes chest. “Did you ever want to kiss me when we worked together?” 

He opens his mouth to speak, but then closes it and finally just nods. 

“Did you ever wonder what it would be like to kiss me… here.”

“In the closet?” he asks in a strangled voice.

“In the White House, Josh.”

“No.” I stand straight up and raise my eyebrows at him. Please. Like I never saw the looks. “Ok, maybe once or twice.”

“Once or twice?” I kiss his ear and then pull the lobe into my mouth and suck lightly.

He groans. “A week. Once or twice a week.”

I glance down to his hands, which are fisted tightly on his sides, and then I run my fingers down his chest but whisper in his ear so he can feel my breath. “I guess I wanted you more than you wanted me then.” I kiss his neck again, this time using my teeth just a little.

“An hour. Once or twice an hour. Every time you stepped foot into my office, every time I heard your voice, every time you saved my day. You wore a red dress for a date once, and….”

“I remember it. You were mean to me.” I don’t stop what I’m doing to his neck, and he leans his head a little to I can get to it better. 

“So I didn’t shove you against the wall right there.”

“When else?” I whisper as I move back up to his ear and stick my tongue in it ever so slowly.

“Last year when you were begging me to tell you what I got you for Christmas.” His voice is getting very husky; which is quite a turn-on. Still, he hasn’t touched me. That’s quite a turn-on too.

“I was excited.”

“So was I, most of the night.”

“Tell me more,” I say in the sexiest voice I can come up with. It’s not really all that sexy, but it must do the trick, because he makes a choking sound.

“When you were freaking out in the file room during the investigation. Every time you tied my bowtie.”

“Mmm…you always smelled so good.” I start running my fingers through his hair while I switch sides again.

He’s breathing heavier now. “The night you told me I was more handsome than Joe Quincy.”

“You are.”

“When you yelled at me about mandatory minimums. Every time you stole a French fry from me. Once when you refused to give me my change after you picked up lunch.”

“I don’t remember that,” I say quietly, not stopping what I’m doing.

“You were proving a point.”

“I’m good at that.”

“Among other things,” he says, letting his head fall all the way back, giving me access to his Adam’s apple.

“The time you offered to put me on a stamp I almost jumped over the desk,” I whisper as I undo another button on his shirt.

“Me too. You said philately’s fun and I…”

“It is fun.” And that does it. As I say that, his hands come up from his sides and cup my face, bringing me to him. He kisses me deeply and forcefully while he backs me into the door.

“Every time you…sat on my…desk…I wanted to…” he gets out between kisses. 

He starts kissing my neck like I did his earlier, and wow… that feels so nice. “Your desk held many fantasies for me.”

He groans again. “Late at night…when we were working late…all I could think about…”

“Me too.” Now I’m the one groaning. His hands start traveling down my body, one hand cupping my breast through my shirt, the other on my hip.

“When you’d come into my office…and shut the door…”

“I wanted you to push me against it…”

“Like now?” he says in an extremely sexy voice.

“Yeah. Like now,” I breathe out.

The talking stops and the making-out continues for who knows how long. The next time I open my eyes, his dress shirt is gone, his t-shirt’s untucked, my shirt’s unbuttoned and my bra’s unhooked. And that’s when it occurs to me. I’m about to have sex in the White House.

“Josh,” I kind of pant out. “We can’t do this here.”

Immediately, his mouth leaves my breast and he looks at me with swollen lips, messed up hair, lipstick on his neck, and all logic leaves me. “Forget I said that,” I say, attacking his mouth again and pulling him closer to me by wrapping a leg around his waist.

“I don’t have any…”

“I’m on the pill.”

“But you bought condoms.”

“How long since you…”

“A long damn time, you?”

“May,” I say, hoping he doesn’t pick up on the Colin thing. I mean, I’m sure he knows, but he doesn’t have to KNOW. You know what I mean?

“Let’s pretend I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says as he pulls away from my neck and undoes the button on my pants. I step out of them as he lets his own pants fall to the floor, and then we’re… you can’t call it making love in a broom closet of the White House, so I’ll say having sex.

Hmm…can’t say I expected to be doing this… here… today.


End file.
